A green paper published by the work and pensions secretary, Damian Green, also confirms that the government aspires to help at least 1 million disabled people into work, though it sets no timescale for achieving this ambition.

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It promises to halve the current employment gap between disabled and non-disabled people, described as the difference between the fewer than five out of 10 disabled people who have a job compared with eight in 10 non-disabled people.

“This is one of the most significant inequalities in the UK today and the government cannot stand aside when it sees the injustice and unfairness,” the green paper says.

The paper sets out wider plans to confront what it calls “prejudices and misunderstandings” that get in the way of employment for those with physical and mental health difficulties.

Among the planned measures is a review of the system of statutory sick pay and GP “fit notes”. This will encourage people to make phased returns to work as they recover, as well as early treatment to prevent them falling out of employment in the first place.

Ministers will consult on reform of the WCA tests to deliver more “targeted and personalised” support and end the division of universal credit and employment and support allowance claimants into groups deemed to be able or unable to work.

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The WCA was introduced in 2008 by the Labour government, and adopted and accelerated two years later by the coalition. Under Green’s predecessor, Iain Duncan Smith, it attracted notoriety for its harshness and there were high numbers of successful appeals against fit-for-work decisions.

Green said: “We must be bold in our ambition to help disabled people and those with health conditions. This green paper marks the start of our action to confront the attitudes, prejudices and misunderstandings that, after many years, have become ingrained within the welfare state, within the minds of employers and across wider society.”

However, Stephen Evans, chief executive of the thinktank Learning and Work Institute, said it would at current rates take more than 200 years to halve the disability employment gap.

“Our analysis has found that fewer than one in 10 disabled people receive any employment support at all, with funding for disability employment programmes due to be halved in this parliament.

“And on current plans, Jobcentre Plus will provide about 10 minutes of support a month to just one in five of those on ill-health benefits. We need to do more and do it better so that the scale of action matches the scale of our ambition.”

The shadow work and pensions secretary, Debbie Abrahams, said: “For Damian Green to claim that this Tory government is confronting the negative attitudes and prejudices that it has spent six years encouraging is ridiculous.

“It is an insult to the hundreds of thousands of disabled people who have been on the receiving end of their callous social security regime.”

Dan Scorer, head of policy at charity Mencap, said: “The government’s long awaited green paper sets out an important 10-year vision for changing attitudes and working with employers to transforming disabled people’s access to employment. However, disappointingly, it does not set any milestones in terms of meeting the government’s important commitment to halve the disability employment gap.”

Mark Atkinson, chief executive at disability charity Scope, welcomed the green paper but said it must lead to concrete action. “Disabled people are twice as likely as the general public to be unemployed. For this consultation to succeed it must lead to real changes in policy, legislation and employer attitudes.”

The Labour chairman of the Commons work and pensions committee, Frank Field, said: “People with disabilities have been among those least well-served by jobcentres and welfare-to-work programmes in recent years. All too often, having a health condition or disability means dropping out of work and struggling to return.

“The committee welcomes the government’s ambition to support people into work faster and more sustainably. Equally important is the review of the work capability assessment, which for too long has been a source of anxiety and fear for disabled people.

“Getting this right is key not just to ensuring that disabled people get the support they need, but also to building confidence that the department has their best interests at heart.”